Spring in Progress

This weekend, I saw our future.

I spent a few days down south, where spring has been in progress for a few weeks longer than in Boise. It was beautiful. The magnolia blossoms, which will soon be the size of saucers, were just about to open, and the wisteria was wrapping itself around verdant trees.

While I was gone, my clients made incredible progress on their gardens. Nick + Tara spent time between rainstorms cutting up their sod and hauling it away, while Linda and Steve spent time shoveling soil and Kyle planting some spring transplants before he left for a business trip. All of them spent time dreaming of what’s to come.

Kyle’s newly planted transplants

Take Tara and Nick, for instance. These are two of the most generous people I’ve ever met. They spend their summers planning river trips and hosting impromptu backyard bonfires. To put it simply, they create fun wherever they go.

I feel so lucky that they asked me to design a garden for their new home. They live on the bench, so their backyard is one of the biggest I’ve seen in Boise. We decided to break up their lawn area by installing a large potager-style garden near the back fence. Complete with L-Shaped raised beds, huge moon gate trellis arches and a central fire pit, I’m certain their garden will be the most used room in their home.

Palouse Potager in Progress | Nick is a workhorse

I always ask my clients why they want to garden. What are their goals? Are they wanting to grow as much food as they can to feed their family fresh, healthy food? Do they want a space in their home where they can watch seeds grow into plants with their kids? Do they want something beautiful to look at from their kitchen window?

At the outset of our first meeting, I asked Tara and Nick about their why. From improving their mental and physical health to having a beautiful space that adds to their enjoyment of their new home, they had some of the same reasons above. Their number one reason, though, revealed something to me. They’re beginner gardeners, but gardeners at heart. They want to garden for their community of friends, family members and neighbors.

Tara is a person who values connecting with others above all else. She’s the person you meet on the plane, at the bar, in a crowd, who instantly becomes your champion and cheerleader. Even though I’m her new garden coach, she coaches me all of the time.

Nick has never met a stranger and he makes everyone feel included. He’s the first to start the campfire-sing-along and always has a bear hug (and a beer!) on deck. These two people are always on the go, always giving back to everyone around them. When I heard their why for gardening, I was not surprised.

These two folks live to connect with their communities, and they immediately recognized their garden’s capacity for that from our first meeting. While they haven’t had much experience with sowing seeds, I know that the why behind their garden will carry them through the ups and downs of learning to grow.

While I was traveling, Tara sent me videos of Nick carefully cutting sod, using their friend’s dump trailer to hauling it away and excitedly shopping for gravel. Their raised beds are already in production, their trellises are enroute to Boise, and we are creating a planting plan this week.

Tara - my hero and client cheerleader

I can’t believe how quickly this concierge kitchen garden has come together, and watching its progress fills me with so much excitement for the spring , to watch it grow, evolve and bring their people together. Every single garden I build gives me all the feelings of spring all over again, the potential for change, beauty and connection.

Thank you to all of the gardeners out there creating hope, connecting with their communities and showing up for their people and plants every single day. Thank you for letting me be a part of it. There’s nothing else I’d rather be doing.